Chapter 9 The Queen is Shocked
The man's voice was so clear that it seemed to be right next to her ear. The queen was shocked, but after all, she had seen a lot of things in the world, and apart from her pupils trembling, she showed no other abnormality.
She looked at the Imperial Concubine with a questioning look in her eyes: was this the reason why she was so mysterious?
The Imperial Concubine nodded, put her finger to her lips again and shook it gently, signaling the Queen not to say anything for the time being.
The queen nodded and glanced at the palace maids and nannies standing in the hall. She saw that everyone was still standing there with their shoulders drooped and their heads lowered as before, and their expressions were normal.
The Imperial Concubine turned her head away and whispered, "They can't hear."
The queen breathed a sigh of relief and nodded gently: "That's good."
After the two of them quickly exchanged words, they both stopped talking and subconsciously leaned slightly toward the window, listening carefully.
The Queen and the Royal Consort seemed to have something important to discuss. Ji Jinyou didn't want to make any noise and disturb them, so she put her two chubby hands behind her back, bent her waist slightly, and quietly admired the pot of jasmine flowers in full bloom, silently counting the flowers in her heart.
After hearing what the system said, she became interested, straightened up, and asked curiously: [Which palace maid? ]
System: [Look back, that's the one standing at the palace gate, the Queen's personal maid Dan Gui.]
The Empress and the Imperial Consort raised their eyes at the same time and looked at Dangui, who was standing properly, with scrutiny, their brows furrowed and their eyes full of confusion.
Dan Gui? She had been with the Empress since she first entered the palace and was still a concubine. She had always been the most loyal. No matter how you think about it, it shouldn't be her.
Ji Jinyou was equally confused. Pretending to be casual, she slowly turned her body and looked towards the beautiful woman at the door.
[But didn’t you say that the Empress and the Imperial Concubine are the best at identifying and employing people, and they clearly reward and punish the people around them, and they are all loyal? ]
The maids were also strictly selected. Their height, figure, appearance, voice, and behavior could not be bad. So, although the maids were just servants serving their masters, they were also excellent women in all aspects.
Regardless of her character and personality, at least, in terms of external conditions, she has enough potential to be a concubine.
In this grand harem, there is an emperor named Wen Zhao who likes beauty and hates the old things. It is common for palace maids to be favored by the emperor. Didn't such an incident happen in Yu Garden yesterday? Everyone is used to it.
However, Dangui, who was loyal to the empress, should not compete with her master for men's favor.
The system explained: [Yes, Dan Gui was originally the most loyal. When the Queen was assassinated, she didn't care about her own safety and rushed forward to block the knife for the Queen. But the bad thing is that she is too loyal.]
Ji Jinyou frowned: [I didn’t understand.]
The system continued: [Dan Gui has a childhood sweetheart cousin who has a special affection for her. He has not married for many years and has been waiting for her. Dan Gui is already 25 years old this year and should leave the palace. Her cousin is also looking forward to arranging a wedding.]
[But the Queen was reluctant to part with this attentive and loyal maid who had accompanied her on this arduous journey, so she tentatively asked Dangui if she was willing to stay with her in the palace.]
Ji Jinyou couldn't help but ask: [Did Dangui tell the Empress that she wanted to go home and get married?]
The system continued: [Dan Gui said that, but the Empress was deeply hurt by the old Emperor, and she thought she was an experienced person who had seen through all men in the world, so she advised Dan Gui earnestly, saying that regardless of the fact that all men in the world are heartless, just look at her cousin's family, there are parents-in-law, elder brothers and sisters-in-law above, and younger brothers and sisters-in-law below. If she marries him, she will have to serve and take care of the whole family, which will be hard work, and she may not end up well.]
[The Queen also said that Dangui had accompanied her through many ups and downs and had experienced life and death several times over the years. It was not easy to have the good life now. It would be better for her to stay in the palace and continue to be her head maid. She would have power, a generous monthly salary, and the best food, clothing, and daily necessities. She would also have young maids to serve her. In the future, she could also be the head nanny, which is respectable and impressive.]
Ji Jinyou thought about it with a modern mindset: [What the Queen said makes sense.]
For a worker, this treatment can be considered very good.
System: [But Dangui doesn’t think so. For so many years, Dangui has been devoted to the Queen and has done her best. But now that she is old, she also longs to have her own little family, live her own little life, and have one or two children of her own. She thinks that this will make her life worthwhile and will not disappoint her cousin’s years of waiting.]
Ji Jinyou: [Then why didn't she just reject the Queen directly? 】
System: [That's the Empress. People in high positions don't need to say things too clearly. They just need to hint. Dangui has been with the Empress for so many years. She can guess what the Empress means with just a glance. The Empress has tried so hard to persuade her. She can see that the Empress really wants to keep her. How dare she, a maid, refuse again and again? That would be disrespectful. So, Dangui agreed to stay, but she felt uncomfortable.]
Ji Jinyou sighed inwardly: [Alas, good intentions led to bad results. ]
Everyone's experience of life is different. What is sweet to one may be honey to another.
Dangui is already an adult. The Empress should not impose her feelings on Dangui, but should respect her wishes. No matter how Dangui lives in the future, whether it is good or bad, it is Dangui's own choice. At least she has experienced the ups and downs of life.
Ji Jinyou asked again: [What happened next? ]
System: [Dan Gui decided to stay, so she wrote a letter to her cousin and gave him most of her savings as an apology. Her cousin's parents forced her cousin to marry and have children. Unexpectedly, her cousin was also a love-sick man and became a monk. As a result, on the first day of going up the mountain, when he went to chop wood, he was restless and accidentally fell off the cliff and died.]
Ji Jinyou was stunned: [When did this happen? ]
The system flipped through the character biographies and plot synopsis: [Tomorrow he will go up the mountain to become a monk, and the day after tomorrow he will fall off a cliff. ]
The Empress and the Royal Concubine had been listening quietly. When they heard this, they were all shocked and immediately understood why Dangui became a favored concubine. She was resentful of the Empress.
Ji Jinyou was unable to prevent this tragedy from happening, and sighed heavily: [Alas, she is also a pitiful person. How did Dangui become the favorite concubine later? ]
System: [After Dan Gui learned of her cousin's death, she was filled with remorse and felt that if she had been braver and firmly rejected the Queen, her cousin would not have become a monk and would not have died.]
【While she was feeling remorseful and self-blaming, she also began to resent the Queen, thinking that it was all her fault and that she wanted revenge. She knew best how to hurt the Queen's heart, so she found an opportunity and seduced the Emperor. As you know, the Emperor never refused anyone who came to him, so she accepted him.】
[Dan Gui was able to become the head maid of the Empress's side. She was very scheming and cunning. She flattered the Emperor and tried to please him. She soon won the old Emperor's favor.]
Ji Jinyou secretly glanced at the queen who was sitting on the couch drinking tea, [What about the queen, how did she react? ]
System: [The queen was sad and angry, and fell seriously ill, but it was too late for her to regret.]
[Hey, everything.] Ji Jinyou suddenly remembered something: [You said before that the Imperial Concubine killed two concubines. Is it possible that one of them was Dangui? After all, the Imperial Concubine and the Empress were so close.]
System: [I don’t know.]
According to Ji Jinyou's understanding of the system, if it knows, it knows, and if it doesn't know, it doesn't know, and it never makes unwarranted speculations.
She asked a few more questions about the osmanthus flower, but when she couldn't get any more information, she sighed and gave up, turning her head away and concentrating on looking at the flowers.
Seeing that Yitongyiwa had stopped talking, the Queen looked at the Royal Concubine and whispered, "Are you worried about your situation?"
The Royal Concubine said in a voice that was barely audible: "It's just about Xiaojiu and Tongtong. I've dealt with the other matters for now. We can talk about it later."
The queen nodded: "Okay, then you take Xiaojiu back first, I will take care of Dangui's matter first."
"Okay." The Imperial Concubine stood up, walked to the window, picked up the little girl, and raised her voice again: "Xiaojiu, your mother will take you to play with your sisters."
Ji Jinyou had no choice but to accept the Royal Concubine's words, but the soft voice gave the Queen goosebumps all over her body, and she glared at her with disgust.
After the Royal Concubine left with Ji Jinyou, the Queen sent everyone else away and only kept Dangui.
Dangui thought that she had something important to do, so she waited quietly.
The queen looked at Dangui with mixed feelings in her heart. After a long while, she sighed and said, "Dangui, do you still want to leave the palace?"
Dangui thought that she had made some mistakes because she was absent-minded recently, which made the empress angry and wanted to punish her. She was so scared that she knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, please forgive me."